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  • by Joel McDonald

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Joel McDonald profile image94

How to Pay off Your Home Loan 10 Years Earlier

Are you tired of writing a mortgage check for your real estate every month? Does it bother you to think about all the interest you're paying? Everybody knows you get to deduct mortgage interest from your...

19 comments    finance home real estate
71

GRM: An Easy Way To Evaluate a Rental Property

If it's investment property you're looking at, then there's one question you have in mind:  Is it going to make a profit?  Understanding the GRM will help you answer that question faster than you can say...

1 comment    grm
73

Home Improvements That Get The Best Return On Investment

Home Improvements and Remodels That Get the Best Return on Investment When it comes to home improvements, many people are deciding to do remodels right now, rather than move since housing values are down...

1 comment    real estate home improvement diy
Joel McDonald profile image81

Mortgage Restructuring -- Do You Qualify and Is It Right for You?

Mortgage restructuring is one of the many ways that you as a homeowner can avoid having to face the difficult choice of losing your home to foreclosure. The first thing to know when looking into mortgage...

1 comment    finance tips how
98

Free Christmas! A Christmas Gift Idea For Families On A Tight Budget

My wife Christy is the sweetest, most loving person I know. She lives for Christmas every year, and when I say she lives for Christmas, I mean that boxes, and boxes, and boxes of Christmas decorations come...

6 comments    christmas christmas gift ideas
Photo credit: ORVX.com73

How Can Your Crawl Space Save You Money?

Many people have taken a look at their home energy bills and taken steps to spend less and save more. Energy efficient windows, programmable thermostats, and energy star appliance purchases are just a few of...

0 comments    home improvement saving money
Joel McDonald profile image88

Mortgage Meanings: Front End Ratios vs. Back End Ratios

When you have decided the time has come for you to look into buying a home for you and your family, there are a few things you need to understand about the aspects of how financial institutions come to the...

2 comments    mortgage home loans loan limits
70

Stucco vs. EIFS Siding: Which is Better?

 Can you tell EIFS from stucco? Both of them are exterior building finishes and they look alike, but that's about all they have in common. Traditional stucco sounds hard and solid when you tap it. It's very...

0 comments    materials stucco eifs
Joel McDonald profile image91

Five Disadvantages of Renting

If you're renting an apartment, chances are that you've had somebody tell you you're just "throwing your money away." In most cases, that's the truth. But there are several other disadvantages to renting an...

5 comments    recreation real estate renting
Joel McDonald profile image79

Building a Deck -- Wood vs. Synthetic Materials

For just about any home you can imagine, one of the greatest home improvements you can make before you sell is repairing or making a new deck. The material choices are basically two, natural wood or synthetic...

9 comments    home real estate homeowner tips
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